04/12/2007 - 04/13/2007

Ten Strategies for Success Abroad

Working across cultures requires a diverse skill set and a different approach from business in general. When bridging cultures both similar and foreign to your own, certain strategies are crucial to international business success. Here are ten strategies for interacting with people from different cultures.

The Language of Iran

Iranian languages form a major subgroup of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European Language family.

It is interesting to note however, that Iranian languages are not limited to Iran – they are diverse in nature and are spoken by over 70 million people across southern and south western Asia. The reason why they are called Iranian languages is that they have been spoken across the Iranian plateau for thousands of years.

Beijing's 'pubic toilets' a no-go

Watch out "deformed men" and "liquor heads" - your days in Beijing are numbered.

A campaign to correct the notoriously goofy English translations on city signs in time for next year's Olympics could mean the end for the misnomers that have confused and amused visitors for years. Officials are taking aim at menu items such as "Fried Crap" and "Acid Food", and slippery-when-wet signs that read, "To take notice of safe: The slippery are very crafty".

New diversity training for bailiffs

Bailiffs and enforcement agents throughout the UK will receive training in diversity before they are allowed to operate under new legislation.

The Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill states that all enforcement agents, including bailiffs, must undergo an extensive programme of training before starting work, including diversity training and guidance about how to handle vulnerable people.

Book Review: Intercultural Language Use and Language Learning

This volume attempts to address an issue that deserves further attention on the part of language acquisition researchers: that of intercultural learners in instructed language contexts. Given the fact that most speech communities where such learning takes place are at least bilingual, and the idea that English is studied for the purposes of communication among people from different cultures, the book focuses on English learners as intercultural speakers. In so doing, the volume brings together three main research areas: those of the study of English as a lingua franca, the development of communicative competence and the use and acquisition of a language beyond a second one in instructed contexts.

China's shortage of translators in run up to Olympics

China is scurrying to get a sufficient number of translators for the Olympics and, beyond that, the Shanghai World Expo in 2010.

The shortage is no surprise. According to professionals in the field, for years the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top political advisory body, has been calling for more awareness of the translation industry, but China was too busy opening up in other areas.

Word of the Day: brio

brio \BREE-oh\, noun:
Enthusiastic vigor; vivacity; liveliness; spirit.

Though my judgment was no doubt affected by all the wine we'd consumed, I remember being elated by our performance that night: our inspired spur-of-the-moment dialogue, the actors fleshing out their roles with such brio. -- Gail Godwin, Evensong